I love the change of seasons, but none as much as that of spring. Rebirth, renewal, regrowth, the promise of things to come, and the luxury of having fresh vegetables in my own garden – this is spring to me. Spring is the color of sunshine. Spring is the distinct, earthy scent of rain in the air. Spring is the remarkable and singular smell of green. Spring is the smell of dirt on my hands.

Spring reminds me that all is right in the world; that it, inexorably, begins anew, and I am, once again, privy to its bounty and exhausted by its hope.

I’m celebrating spring with food, of course. I’ve put together a spring meal showcasing the first vegetable offerings of the season, a lot of which come from my own garden. A spring greens and baby spinach salad with avocado, grapes, and caramelized pecans, napped with a strawberry and balsamic vinaigrette, will whet your appetite. Then we’ll move on to a bright and herby Potatoes Primavera accented with asparagus, along with a more substantial Mediterranean Mélange, featuring artichokes, Kalamata olives, feta cheese, and the oft-overlooked fennel. We’ll end our meal on a high note with a heavenly Pavlova Printemps.

It’s a meal to remember.

Potato salads are like coleslaw and BBQ sauces. Everybody has a recipe. Here’s a new twist on an old favorite using colorful new potatoes, fresh asparagus from my garden, and a Dijon mustard vinaigrette with fresh dill.

I love Mediterranean cuisine and my next dish showcases those flavors. Combine fennel, along with new potatoes, artichoke bottoms, feta cheese, and Kalamata olives, and you have what I call culinary synergism – the total effect is greater than the sum of the individual ingredients.

For dessert, I have a sublime and ethereal Pavlova Printemps for you. Pavlova is a dessert named after famed Russian ballerina, Anna Pavlova. The dessert was a metaphorical representation of the ballerina, with the colorful fruit and the light, frothy meringue epitomizing the magnificence of the dancer’s costumes and her “lighter than air” form.

Rosie Hawthorne is a blogger, gardener, wanderluster, and mother of three. She learned to cook by watching Julia Child every Saturday afternoon on her 11-inch black and white TV with legal pad and pen in hand. For the Hawthornes, every meal is a celebration of life.